Making a superyacht feel like home – and then adding a bit of enchantment – is driving the success of design studio Harrison Eidsgaard...
“We try to make sure there’s a certain magic to our boats,” says Peder Eidsgaard, of the design process at Harrison Eidsgaard. With eight superyachts delivered (the ninth and largest, 95 metre Lürssen Project Fiji, is due next year), London-based design studio Harrison Eidsgaard has been creating powerful impressions since it was founded in 2005. Its team of 10 – including directors Peder, Ewa and Ben – has penned both motor and sail yachts from 40 to 95 metres, and has worked with Feadship, Heesen, Wally and Lürssen.
Whenever a project comes in to the Thames-side Hammersmith studio, the three directors do the initial concept phase, with, as Ben says, “Peder and I concentrating on exteriors and GAs and Ewa on the decoration and interior architecture”. Either Ben or Peder will lead the project and the rest of the team support and feed in.
Peder, who knew that he wanted to be a superyacht designer from the age of 12 (and who declares that boat design is his only hobby), says: “An initial concept could be drawn down in one sketch and we always refer back to that to make sure that the actual design retains the purity of that initial idea.”
And then come the finer details. “We always try to create a home,” says Ewa. “That’s what sets us apart. We want to make sure clients personalise their boat, that they put up pictures of their family, that it is not a soulless hotel; it is their home.” And the magic Peder mentions? Of course, it’s not actually mystical at all, but the result of focused dedication.
“It’s the combination of a lot of hard work from the team’s side and also from the shipyard’s side,” says Peder. “When seeing a finished design you are seeing the conclusion to three or four years of hard work. Some of it is quite emotional in the design process; some of it is more technical in order to achieve what we set out – all of it comes together in one moment. And when we feel that that is achieved it can be very powerful, the impression you get.”
Elandess
Delivered in July, the 2,065GT steel and aluminium yacht was styled inside and out by Harrison Eidsgaard in its first collaboration with Abeking & Rasmussen. Elandess’s exterior styling is distinctive, with an Atlantic bow, dark hull and low-slung superstructure. The owner’s brief called for a modern and spacious yacht that would be equally suited for relaxed family time or entertaining, and many of the interior spaces are open plan and flexible by design to accommodate these needs. Features include an 8 x 2.5 metre swimming pool on the sundeck, an observation lounge on the upper deck and a “nemo lounge” below the waterline. She recently made her way up the Thames to London (above) on her maiden voyage.
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